Youth baseball bliss

Wednesday

There's great joy in seeing a bat hit a ball. The joy heightens when the one making contact has struggled all season and during practice to keep his or her eye on the ball, swing level and connect.

For the coaches of Jasper-Ridgeland Youth Baseball and Softball Incorporated teams, when the moment of contact happens, bedlam ensues."When a kid hits the ball, I go crazy," said Earl Pope Jr., league vice president and coach of Mazzanna's Lawn Service machine pitch team. "I'll stop the game and give them a hug."Sometimes the experience of hitting the ball paralyzes the players. That's when an excited Greg Rushing, coach of SCB&T's machine pitch team, starts yelling."The fun thing is when they hit the ball in a game and stand there and watch it," Rushing said. "I get loud and tell them to run."Pope, 34, and Rushing, 43, played in the league when they were younger and now coach their children.Pope coaches his 8-year-old son Wyatt and his 10-year-old daughter Skylar plays softball for Palmetto Eye Associates. Rushing, league treasurer, coaches his 7-year-old son Robbie.Paul Pender, 42, who coaches his 11-year-old son River for D&R Auto Brokers' majors team, gets a jolt of excitement when witnessing a defensive gem.Recently second baseman Evan Brazil, shortstop Konnor Harrell and first baseman Chipper Hammond combined to turn a double play.Brazil fielded the grounder and Harrell charged toward second and yelled for the ball. Brazil underhanded the ball to Harrell, who barehanded it, touched second and fired to Hammond. "Everybody went crazy," Pender said.A classic 4-6-3 double play, just like the team's practiced all season, right?"You don't ever practice it, because you know it ain't going to happen," Pender said. "That's the first time I've ever seen that in Little League."The moments of baseball bliss keep the parents and coaches coming to the fields.Pope was coached by his father Earl Sr., from T-ball through the Pony League. With two children involved, he makes sure to pass on what he learned and keep the game fun."I uplift them when they do good," Pope said. "We teach them what they did wrong, but we do all you can to praise them. If you give a positive influence, it helps kid out."Rushing sees how staying positive keeps the kids involved. When kids have success - like getting that first hit - and are encouraged, he thinks it makes it more likely they'll want to continue playing."If they are not having fun, they are not going to come back," Rushing said. "They can see their swings getting better. Our group...a couple got their first hits the last couple of weeks and now they practice at home and really want to get up to bat."Pender, who played in the league in the 1970s and 80s and began coaching his son Perry in 1995, enjoys seeing the players grow. Recently he sold a car to a player he coached in the minors nine years ago.Rushing, an avid Clemson baseball fan, played the outfield for Thomas Heyward Academy. He watches webcasts of the Tigers' games and will watch the Braves. He fondly remembers his time playing youth ball, especially the two home runs he hit in the Pony League. He learned the game under his dad Pinky, who helped build the league's original outfield wall in the late 1950s and still lines and drags the fields.Baseball is a passion that apparently runs in the family. Rushing said his son and his dad are similar: they want to be on the field."(Robbie) really loves it, he'd go absolutely nuts if he didn't have a place to play," Rushing said. "He's dead serious about it."Pope, who was an infielder at Thomas Heyward, enjoys connecting with his children. "That's what neat about it, you form a bond with your kids," he said.As board members with president Lewie Davis, Chris Tilton, T.R. Cannon, Cathy Cleland, Ben Capers and Nathan Hexamer, Rushing and Pope's time is spent ordering uniforms and trophies, organizing schedules and paying umpires. Their volunteer work can be time consuming, but for Pender, a former board member, the work is rewarding and coaching will be something he'll miss.Next season will be River's last in the majors and it's undecided if he'll play in the Pony League. D & R will continue to be a sponsor, which it has been for 16 years."It's a part of life," Pender said. "February starts practice and you go until June. It's going to be a shock after next year. I don't know what I'm going to do."

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